The present invention relates to a curtain airbag device provided with a curtain airbag that can be deployed along an inner side surface of a vehicle cabin.
In a vehicle provided with a curtain airbag device of related art, when the vehicle is involved in an accident, such as a side-on collision or rollover, a curtain airbag is deployed downward along an inner side surface (for example, doors and pillars) of the vehicle cabin so as to protect the head of a vehicle occupant and to keep the vehicle occupant inside the vehicle cabin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,938 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses an example of a guiding element disposed along a C pillar. Specifically, such a guiding element is used for guiding a rear portion of a curtain airbag downward along the pillar when the curtain airbag is being inflated along the inner side surface of a vehicle cabin.
Moreover, such a guiding element includes a track member having a box-shaped cross-section and a sliding component disposed within the track member that is movable in the longitudinal direction of the track member. The rear portion of the curtain airbag is tied to the sliding component. For holding the rear portion of the curtain airbag at the bottom-most point of deployment, the track member is provided with latches disposed at a regular interval across the entire length of the track member.